It may have been caused by what happened in 2008, or the causes may run deeper than that. We are witnessing it at work in the US, and the result is that there is a chance the global economy may be brought down to its knees. We are seeing it in the UK too, and in Europe it may yet erupt. This is the rise of extremism, and investors need to factor in its inherent risk.

There used to be an adage about voting that went something like this:...Read More

For an economy to grow it needs the money supply to expand. That’s the point that those who favour a return to the gold standard overlook. In a static economy with no innovation and which will look the same in a hundred years’ time, a gold standard would do nicely....Read More

Innovation has always been a key foundation of a strong business, with even the world's largest brands continuing to push boundaries in order to stay one step ahead of their rivals with the latest must-have products or services. Strong innovative businesses also lead to a robust economy, attracting worldwide attention...Read More

The deal between Vodafone and Verizon announced earlier this month is, in fact, the third largest corporate deal in history. In comparison the deal between Microsoft and Nokia is small beer, but it is still a massive arrangement by any normal yardstick. Interest rates are low, but they may not...Read More

Re-shoring. If the last decade or so has been characterised by off-shoring, then maybe we are set to enter a new era in which manufacturing returns to home markets, or, failing that, to countries much closer to home. Re-shoring: if it proves to be real, it may provide real, underlying...Read More

It was good news across most of the world yesterday – at least it was good news as far as manufacturing went. And for the UK, which really needs a recovery made of more than just rising house prices, the news was especially good. Nay, ignore that. It was spectacularly...Read More

Asia is in crisis mode. Europe, or so it appears, is in recovery mode. In Asia we are set to see a re-run of 1997, or so they say, when Asia suffered one very nasty crash. In Europe years of pain are set to pay dividends, or once again so...Read More

'Give me a place to stand, and I shall move the world,' or so said Archimedes – supposedly. He was expounding upon the benefits of levers. A small action can lead to a massive reaction, if the pivots and levers are right. It is like that with the economy too,...Read More

The World Economic Forum has picked out 36 start-ups which it sees as technology pioneers. The companies and their offerings are indeed impressive, and lend more support to the idea often suggested here that we are in the midst of the greatest industrial/technological revolution to date. There is one problem...Read More

The threat to quantitative easing – or QE – is like a nuclear deterrent. If rates are forced up by the markets, we will use QE, suggests the Bank of England, and therefore there is no need for it, as markets price in what might happen if they don’t heed...Read More

Over the weekend the press were full of talk of Steve Ballmer, the CEO of Microsoft, who has announced his plan to retire next year. This begs the question: what next for the company? Should it revisit the idea of a merger with Yahoo?

When was the last time you had a pay rise? Many people might answer that question by saying “about five years ago.” Envy the Chinese, or Poles, or Mexicans, or Indians. According to PwC, they are likely to see their wages shoot up. This is set to be a very...Read More

There’s a lot of talk about the dearth of Merger & Acquisition activity in the UK and overseas but this would appear to be a bit of an illusion since business confidence is still sufficiently robust to underpin near record figures for global transactions.

If 10cc were to write a song about the latest surveys on the UK economy they might say: “I don’t like surveys. Oh no, I love them.” The fact is that the surveys are not just good; they are remarkable, but can they really be right?

As far as the Bank of England is concerned, the inflation panic is over for now. You may recall that many feared that one of Mark Carney’s first acts as governor of the Bank of England would be to put pen to paper and knock off a quick letter to...Read More

There is just three months to go until the first ever Digital Marketing Show takes place at Excel. With 150 speakers and 100 exhibitors, the Digital Marketing Show promises to be the ‘must attend event’ of the year. The Digital Marketing Show will bring together industry leaders, key influencers and...Read More

George Osborne recently tried to assure us. "I don't think in the current environment a house price bubble is going to emerge in 18 months or three years," or so he told parliament this week. The Bank of England governor promises us he won’t let it happen – no bubble...Read More

Did you read the one about wind farms that can only produce enough electricity to make a few cups of tea? What a scandal! Why do we need these cursed wind farms? Yet take another look, and it turns out that actually wind farms are growing in importance all the...Read More